Well I tried to remove just the zerk fitting; no dice. It basically fell apart as soon as I touched it. So now I'm back to finding the joint; not sure how things work in Texas LittleBeast, but a Minneapolis city boy like me doesn't know any driveline shops. A quick google search says there's a shop a bit north that may offer the service I need; I'll give them a call Monday and if it doesn't work out then I'll just order the trooper part and quit my whining. Thanks!